Krak : Pinged

THE COCKPIT, XENTAN-AD1173,

PLANET SIRIUS' AIRSPACE.

He'd known that flying the XC-D1173 was suicidal. He'd known all the risks involved when he accepted to fly the craft. The Destroyer had not been used in over six moons and yet he was volunteering for this. After running some mental calculations, he was sure of a 13.7 percent chance of surviving this. He was also certain that with the Destroyer's speed and his ying capabilities, he could prevent the Crugi military shuttles from landing on the base, for at least three-quarters of an hour. By then, he hoped, the reinforcements from Kosh would have been twenty minutes away from the base, provided there were no emergency stops or mishaps on the way.

Looking around the cockpit, his systems began to familiarize and gather information about the use and importance of each part and knob. This was his first time flying a Destroyer and the last time he had ever flown a craft was a supply barge from Xinifin, eight years ago.

"Welcome to the XC-D1173, pilot," The Destroyer's AI system greeted him.

"Thank you, Rollas. Are all procedures ready?"

"All systems are set and ready for battle."

"Last time in flight?" He asked for confirmation.

"Two hundred and twenty-three days ago". Rollas answered.

"Over six moons," He whispered. "Is the Gahetium supply full?"

"Negative. The supply is enough for another eight hours of flight before refill "

"I don't plan on flying for eight hours. How many blasters are active?"

The AI system projected the blasters' image and a 3d-diagram of its innards and workings.

"Two. The other blasters are to be operated by aircrew members."

"Well, there are no other crew members. Activate weapons systems." He ordered.

"Weapons systems activated." The Destroyer's available arsenal was displayed on one of the many screens besides the controls monitor.

Holding onto the joystick, he steered the craft eastwards, away from the base. Doing so, he masked his true intentions and wasn't noticed or pursued by any of the Crugi military shuttles that were flying towards the base, attempting to land. He then completed a swirl and flew back towards the base, keeping himself in the blind side of the shuttles.

He looked at his radar and spotted two huge crafts, obviously warships, hovering above the Tasusphere, flanked by smaller spacecrafts.

"Rollas, can you identify those warships above us?"

"Yes. The two warships are the Ofenia and the Sayolas, of the Crugi Assault Fleet. They are under the command of Commander Sorah Amedi of House Tevsol. The Ofenias has a population capacity of...."

"Yes, yes, yes. That's enough, please," He interrupted hurriedly before the AI began a monologue of the two warships, when they were built and a history of all the battles the warships and its crews had fought. He now knew why the Hexoni refused to activate the AI systems embedded in their spacecraft. The last thing any pilot wanted to hear, before his died, was a long history of the enemy's battlecrafts, origin and exploits in past battles.

"How long will it take before we get pinged?" He inquired.

"Possibly ten minutes or less, if we avoid and don't get close enough to their proximity sensors.

"We sure don't want that," He had only ten minutes before the warships were alerted of his presence and made him a threat. It wasn't what he had hoped for. But it was all he had.

With the Destroyer's superior speed over the military shuttles, he darted into the airfield and immediately locked on to a shuttle that entered his shooting range. The pilots were flying in a scattered formation to avoid being hit by the base's turrets, but this however, made them very vulnerable to him.

"Activate twin-barrel cannon blasters." He gave the order, and the twin-barrel cannon blasters spun in their housing, beneath the Destroyer's wings. He clicked the red button on the joystick and watched with glee as the shuttle was wrecked when the blasts struck the surface of the shuttle. In seconds, the shuttle was completely obliterated without its knowledge of its obscured foe. Another blast bashed a shuttle, colliding it with another shuttle and resulting in a loud explosion.

Three Crugi military shuttles changed course and gave chase but were too slow to get him in their shooting range. He relaxed and steered the joystick as he easily evaded their plasma blasts.

"I could get just used to this," he muttered loudly to himself as another shuttle entered his range and ended up as others, getting blown up.

"You could, except for the fact that we've been pinged by the Ofenias," Rollas informed him.